Charging Is Still a Pain Point for EV Drivers, Study Says

A recent study indicates widespread concerns with charger reliability, making charging electric vehicles (EVs) a considerable barrier for drivers. The industry’s success depends on the charging infrastructure’s dependability as EV usage rises. New research, however, indicates that charging outages are frequently not reported, which irritates EV owners more and more.

The report, conducted by ChargerHelp, a California-based company specializing in EV charger operations and maintenance, in collaboration with the Electric Vehicle Research Center at the University of California Davis, highlights these concerns. The study analyzed data from multiple sources, including the US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC), EV industry analysis firm Paren, and ChargerHelp’s own operations network. The findings point to a troubling trend: charger downtime is more common than what is typically reported by software and other monitoring tools.

ChargerHelp’s analysis of their 4,800-charger network revealed that while official reports indicated only 15.4% of chargers were offline, actual field tests showed that 26.3% of charging attempts failed. This discrepancy was even more pronounced in Paren’s network of over 9,700 direct current fast charging (DCFC) stations, where 16% of charging attempts were unsuccessful, despite reported downtime being as low as 6%.

One key problem is the overestimation of charger uptime by software, which often tends not to reflect in real-time the real situation of charging stations. The inconsistency is further complicated by those problems that lie on smartphone apps which drivers use to locate available chargers and quite often present information of status wrong.

The research further found that with the aging of chargers, their reliability goes down especially after four years under operation. This has led to the development of new software updates such as Rivian’s infotainment system that would help drivers steer clear unreliable chargers. Notwithstanding these efforts, the increasing number of “zombie” and “ghost” stations continue in undermining driver confidence towards the charging network.

It is imperative to address these reliability issues if the EV industry is to prosper. There has never been a greater need for a stable and precise charging infrastructure as more drivers switch to electric cars.